Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry presented 89 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. on Thursday, however none were in the Island Health region. (BC Government Flickr)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

NEW CASES

Community transmission of COVID-19 remains below threshold across Island & B.C.

Sep 3, 2020 | 4:28 PM

NANAIMO — No change for the Island Health region, but the province provided a detailed look at community transmission of COVID-19 on Thursday.

Eighty-nine new cases were confirmed elsewhere in B.C. as the Island Health region remained at 178 total cases.

Despite no new cases confirmed for Island Health, the BC CDC showed the number of active cases increased by one, now at eight active cases.

Public health continues to monitor over 2,800 people throughout in all health authorities after confirmed exposure to the virus, with 1,175 cases active through B.C.

Provincially, 34 people remain in hospital with COVID-19 with 11 of those patients in intensive care units. One additional death was also recorded in the last 24 hours, the 210th so far.

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Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provided a detailed epidemiological look at the pandemic to date, revealing new data on the source of many infections and steps taken to limit the spread.

She said community transmission remains well below tolerance throughout the province, especially in the service industry between workers and customers.

“In those places, the transmission has generally been between workers who either congregate in the workplace without taking the precautions they normally would take or sometimes it’s because they have the same social connections outside of the workplace,” Dr. Henry said.

A graph showing the infection origin of new COVID-19 cases between June 24 and Sept. 1, reflecting phase three of B.C.’s restart plan. (BC Government)

Dr. Henry added public health continues to monitor the rate of community transmission as a measuring stick to continue the re-opening of B.C., including the resumption of in-class schooling by Sept. 10

Between Aug. 23-29, British Columbia recorded 586 new cases at a rate of 11.4 per 100,000 people. Public health’s mark for safe resumption of school is set at 25.

Island Health recorded the lowest infection rate at 1.3 incidence per 100,000 people.

Dr. Henry said the key to keeping numbers low remains at the base principles of the pandemic including practicing good hygiene and maintaining responsible social interactions.

“There’s no magic number but we know the fewer people, the better. For some people, their own risk will mean that those numbers need to stay very small.”

She added if people are returning to work in the fall and increasing their interactions at work, they need to adjust their personal interactions elsewhere.

The province currently conducts between 4,000 and 5,000 COVID-19 tests per day with an average turnaround time of 27.8 hours for results.

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